Shakespear

Shakespear Open Sanctuary

The Open Sanctuary will encompass 555 hectares of land at the eastern end of the Whangaparaoa peninsula including Shakespear Regional Park (Auckland Regional Council), The Whangaparaoa Training Centre (Ministry of Defence) and the Hibiscus coast Sewerage Treatment Plant (Rodney District Council). A 1.5 kilometre pest prevention fence is to be erected across the peninsula neck from Army Bay to Okoromai Bay.

The Open Sanctuary is significant because it extends Tiritiri Matangi Island to the mainland. The importance of this relationship is reflected in the continuous movement of native species such as tui, bellbirds and kakariki between Tiritiri Matangi and Shakespear Regional Park. The Open Sanctuary is likely to benefit from the proposed pest eradication to be undertaken by the Department of Conservation on nearby Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands. Resident endangered species such as moko skink will thrive in the pest free environment.

Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society Inc (SOSSI)

The Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society Inc (SOSSI) was created to help the Open Sanctuary become a reality through fundraising and volunteer work. SOSSI is working closely with the Auckland Regional Council on this project.

The first campaign to raise money for the Shakespear Open Sanctuary is the Fence Post Appeal. SOSSI aims to raise $250,000 towards the construction of the pest proof fence.

You can help by joining SOSSI or making a donation by visiting www.sossi.org.nz

Why do we need open sanctuaries?

• Natural, healthy coastal environments are in short supply in New Zealand. In the Rodney District, where Shakespear is located, more than 80% of remaining forests are less than 10 hectares in size, and just 1% of the original wetlands remain.
• The Shakespear Open Sanctuary plans to create a pest proof fence which will run coast to coast. The fence will enclose 555 hectares of land at the end of the peninsula. 
• Animal pests are causing our native animal and plant numbers to decline. By removing them we can reverse this movement and create a pest free retreat. Doing this in a Regional Park means the public can access native species.

What animal pests are present at Shakespear Regional Park?

• Shakespear Regional Park has 10 species that are considered pests. These include mice, ship rats, norway rats, weasels, stoats, ferrets, cats, possums, rabbits, hedgehogs.
  

Why eradicate these pests?

• Because they are a deadly threat to the native species and plants that remain at Shakespear Regional Park. They are also a threat to Tiritiri Matangi Island species, because many birds journey between the island and Shakespear Regional Park.
• Possums and rodents eat the fruit, leaves and new growth of native plants at Shakespear. This reduces the availability of food for native animals. They are also predators of chicks and eggs of many native species.
• Mustelids are very aggressive mammalian predators. The feed on native birds, insects and lizards. Mustelids are responsible for the death of 80% of kiwi chicks in the wild.

Timeline for pest eradication:

• The Auckland Regional Council is set to apply for regional consents for the pest proof fence and animal pest eradication, including discharge of aerial bait, in 2008 and 2009.
• The pest proof fence is due to be constructed from October 2009 to February 2010.
• Pest eradication, including an aerial bait drop of toxin and ground based methods, is scheduled for July and August of 2011. Two aerial applications, ideally a fortnight apart, is normal. This however is weather dependent.

How will the eradication be undertaken?

• The initial aim is much like the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Project, where a predator proof fence was constructed, and an aerial bait drop was done.
• At Shakespear Regional Park, a 1.5 kilometre pest proof fence will be constructed around a 555 hectare section at the end of the peninsula.
• An aerial application of toxin along with ground based methods, such as bait traps, will be used to eradicate pests from inside the Open Sanctuary area.

Why do we need an aerial bait drop?

• Rodents have very small home ranges - about 10 square metres for mice. An aerial bait drop is the most cost effective solution to combating pest problems because thousands of bait stations would be needed to cover the whole Open Sanctuary area. Installing and servicing such an intensive ground system would be unsustainable and unsafe. Trapping alone generally fails to get rid of all rodents because trap-shy animals often avoid them.
• An aerial bait drop was done for the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary project, and was highly successful at removing many pests. The pests that have been successfully eradicated from Tawharanui include ship rats, norway rats, cats, possums, weasels, stoats and ferrets. There are some pests that still remain inside Tawharanui Open Sanctuary, including mice, rabbits and hedgehogs. On going ground based techniques are continued, to prevent these pests.

Will the aerial bait drop affect visitor use?

• Yes, the area inside the pest proof fence at Shakespear Regional Park will be closed to visitors for a minimum of 120 days following poison application. The Auckland Regional Council routinely closes any Regional Park during an intensive pest control period. However this closure is unusually long due to the scale of the operation.
• Areas outside of the pest proof fence will remain accessible to the public. These include the boat ramp, car park and toilets at Army Bay, Okoromai Bay at Okoromai wetlands.
• The area inside the pest proof fence will reopen once testing has shown the bait from the aerial drop has broken down to a degree that the ARC can guarantee visitor safety.

Will the Open Sanctuary affect visitor use?

• No, the purpose of the Open Sanctuary is to enhance visitor experience by restoring coastal lowland landscape and providing a unique opportunity for visitors to experience native plants and animals in a pest free environment.
• There will be gates along the pest proof fence for the public to enter.

What will pest eradication mean in the long run for Shakespear Regional Park and the Open Sanctuary?

• A mainland sanctuary where existing native species can recover in the absence of animal pests but in the presence of human visitors.
• Eventually the Auckland Regional Council envisages that a significant section of the park could be restored through natural and active reintroduction, regeneration and revegetation. This will create a representative range of natural communities that would have been present on the Whangaparaoa peninsula originally. These natural communities will include coastal lowland forest, dunelands, cliff, rocky and sandy shore communities, and saline and freshwater wetlands.
• Imagine being able to camp and walk amongst native kiwi, brown teal, bellbirds and tuatara, and picnic in a puriri and nikau forest alive with bird song.